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Us Car Warrant Of Fitness


Wertbag

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Got a pretty random question for any of you guys from the states... do the cars in the US require a warrant of fitness to be allowed on the roads?

I was watching Pimp my Ride, and have been horrifed by the crap condition of many of the cars (frayed seat belts if any, tons of rust, missing panels, faulty electrics etc). In New Zealand you are required to get an annual warrant of fitness, and I can gaurantee almost every single car on that show would have failed...

So what are the rules?

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Hmm, in my part of OrEgon State, anything with a *warrant* is eyed with great suspicion.. :P

 

Shit Wert, has to have some form of diectional sginals, front lights and after 1975, seat belts.

 

Helps to have brakes that work, and a muffler, but those are optional at this time.

 

Great to live in a rural area where derPoletzei have better things to do than bother one about the condition your sled is in.. ;) Oh, you'll get traffic stopped for obvious equipment failures like a broken windsheild, or lights not working after dark, but for most part it isn't a tremendous Law Enfarsement thing to harass drivers.

 

After you run over the bus with the nuns and orphans, you get to explain to Kort why you were a cheap bastard and did maintain your ride..

 

I drive a K-model,large body '82 GMC Jimmy ute, nicked the "Urban Assault Vehicle".

Last few winters of icy roads have left the UAV dented and scarred. Looks rather ugly..

Scares the Yuppies and Rubbies with their new SUV sleds that cost more than my house.. ;)

 

Like it that way.. Warrant? "WE DON'T NEED NO STEEKON WARRANTS!"

 

kL

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So what are the rules?

 

yeah, the rules are a lot more lax over here than other places. I'm not sure of the specifics myself, but I do know they're a lot looser than most other places.

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If we had to have a "Warrant of fitness" to drive our cars, my poor little Fiero wouldn't stand a chance. He's got bits falling off, falling apart, or just plain missing - definitely needs a good bit of work before he'll be presentable as a "show car" (which I hope he will be eventually :grin: )

 

...And all this before I've even gotten a chance to take the little darling for his first official spin :Doh:

 

Ah well. So long as he can accelerate and stop, and has a working AC/heater and CD player, and the floor isn't falling out... :HaHa:

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If we had to have a "Warrant of fitness" to drive our cars,

 

Yeah, so if you BMI is too high you can't drive your piece of shit. You have to take the bus & gain even more weight because of your depression eating disorder.

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I have a feeling that a lot of cars wouldn't be on the roads if they were required to be "fit". AFAIK, they are required to have working seatbelts (because you're required to wear it), as well as working headlights and mirrors. Most, if not all, states require your car to have a front and back license plate. If there's not one on the rear of the car, at least it has to be in the window. BOCTAOE (but of course, there's always one exception, for those who don't read the Dilbert blog).

 

Other than that, I don't think there are too many restrictions. They care more that you pay your registration fees and park in the right places, especially when there's a blizzard.

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There are inspections on a state by state level, and there is a defintion of "street legal" for cars. Usually covers emissions, lights, belts, and general safety-inspection type stuff. Most of the stuff on that show wouldn't pass inspection here (and most of it is "uglyed up for the show anyway). The inspections here are more strict than others here have made them out to be, but tend to be more technical, and are meant to keep certain over-powered things off the streets and on the track.

 

Then again, there are always shops that are willing to cert cars that shouldn't pass inspection in an under the table way. Especially useful if you have done things like a motor-swap or the like.

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When I see some of those people on Pimp My Ride, I can't help but think that some of them deliberately go out and get a piece-of-shit car at a really cheap price just to apply for the show in order to get a laid-out car.

 

I can hardly stand to watch that show. :vent:

 

Then there's Overhaulin'!

 

Why won't Chip Foose come to my house?!?!?!

 

Not only that, but there have been episodes where they took people's BRAND NEW cars and overhauled them! That just sucks!

 

:vent:

COME AND GET ONE OF MY PIECES OF SHIT, CHIP FOOSE!

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU FOREVER!!

:vent:

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Wow... I didn't even know such a thing existed. I thought you were going to make a joke about crappy American made cars. LOL

 

We don't even have to have a front license plate in Indiana. It costs money to keep a car in tip top shape like that... I can't imagine what a strain it would put on people without means. Luckily, my car is a 2001, but if it starts going to crap, I definitely won't have the money to fix everything. Most cars, especially where I live, are old boats that are in the midst of perpetual pimping. LOL The others are illegally paid for hummers and Caddy Escalades.

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Speaking of run down cars, there's one in my apt. parking lot that just got ticketed. It's smashed in the front, kind of towards the passenger side. Looks like they rear-ended someone or something.

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That show really goes out of their way to find um... unique vehicles. The ones I've seen were even worse than what I usually drive... and my GOOD car has 156,000 miles on it.

 

As far as inspections, it depends on the state. Tennessee requires that you pay $25 for registration, and that's it. Houston, TX made me get a safety inpection every 2 years, but it wasn't exactly rigorous. Colorado Springs CO made me get an emissions test before I could get tags, but no safety inspection. Kansas just charges me lots of money, but doesn't care about my vehicles otherwise.

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Althought those cars from Pimp my Ride are indeed works of art, I just don't see the point of it. Maintaining a car in such perfect condition, worrying about ever little spec of dust and every dent, looks like so much work that the car itself loses its original function (as a mode of transportation) and becomes an impractical trophy piece. (er....hmmm...i guess thats the point) I guess i just dont view cars that way. I'll take a cheap used pick-up anyday.

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We don't even have to have a front license plate in Indiana. It costs money to keep a car in tip top shape like that... I can't imagine what a strain it would put on people without means. Luckily, my car is a 2001, but if it starts going to crap, I definitely won't have the money to fix everything. Most cars, especially where I live, are old boats that are in the midst of perpetual pimping. LOL The others are illegally paid for hummers and Caddy Escalades.

Another Indiana resident here. We used to have safety inspection, I think yearly, but by the early 80's they were gone. I don't remember the reason, I just remember I was glad there was one less thing to pay for!

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My state used to require yearly inspections, too, but they got rid of those out of stupidity a couple years ago.

 

The state government here does pretty much everything out of stupidity, though. So at least they're consistent.

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That show really goes out of their way to find um... unique vehicles. The ones I've seen were even worse than what I usually drive... and my GOOD car has 156,000 miles on it.

 

As far as inspections, it depends on the state. Tennessee requires that you pay $25 for registration, and that's it. Houston, TX made me get a safety inpection every 2 years, but it wasn't exactly rigorous. Colorado Springs CO made me get an emissions test before I could get tags, but no safety inspection. Kansas just charges me lots of money, but doesn't care about my vehicles otherwise.

 

I don't think MN has any emissions testing rules for regular vehicles at the moment. We used to, though. I think they care more about the driver being able to drive than the shape the car is in.

 

I looked up my tag expiration date and it's at the end of April.

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